By Danny Crownover [The Vagabond]
One of the most well-known and most capable physicians and surgeons this city ever had was Dr. Erasmus Taylor Camp, who died on his farm in Tidmore Bend a few years ago at the age of 90.
He came here in the 1890s to practice medicine and found immediate success, helping operate one of the first hospitals in Gadsden alongside Dr. A.W. Ralls. The hospital was known as Ralls Sanatorium for years, the first hospital in Etowah County, then it became the Forrest General Hospital and — later — the Baptist Memorial Hospital.
A student of medicine, Dr. Camp was rated as a great surgeon. His practice was large, and he was a popular doctor — all the way up until he retired and took up his residence on his farm near the city.
Erastus Taylor Camp was born August 19, 1850, near La Fayette, Alabama in Chambers County.
His father was Alfred B. Camp of Georgia, who moved to Alabama soon after his marriage to Mary C. (Heath) Camp. Dr. Camp’s father was a farmer and a preacher of the Methodist Church and, later, the Congregational Church.
Dr. Camp was educated in the public schools of Chambers County, and after graduation, he studied medicine under Dr. R.L. Robertson of Wedowee for one year. He then attended the Atlanta Medical College for one year, after which he entered the Mobile Medical College, from which he graduated in 1885.
After taking a postgraduate course in New York, he began practicing in Randolph County in partnership with Dr. P.G. Brandon.
Afterwards, he moved to Edwardsville for some time to practice with Dr. O.W. Shepherd. Once he finished practicing in Edwardsville, he practiced in Polk County, Georgia, for two years — and then he came to Gadsden.
Camp married Harriet J. Robertson of Wedowee, daughter of Amanda (Dobson) Robertson, in 1872. She died soon after moving to this city.
In 1895, he married Miss Sadie Jeanette Fitzgerald of North Carolina. She was a cousin to Bishop Fitzgerald of the Methodist Church. She died in 1902.
She had one brother in the Second North Carolina Regiment from 1863 to 1865. He was captured and imprisoned for one year at Camp Douglas.
Another brother was a state senator for several terms. He moved from North Carolina to practice law at Morristown, Tennessee.
James S., another brother, was editor of the Tennessee Pilot.
Camp had eight children by his first wife. L.S. Kidd and Miss Alice Camp, who are residents of Gadsden, and Emmett T. Camp, an engineer in California, were the only surviving children.
He was known as a man of keen mind and a great student. He was one of the first physicians in the state to become interested in X-ray therapy, on which he was an accepted authority. Although his college training had been lacking in the use of the microscope, he developed its use by his own initiative and was one of the first physicians in the section to use it.
He served as president of the Etowah County Medical Association at various times and was also member of the County Board of Health.
He was associated with Dr. A.W. Ralls in 1908-1910 in the Camp & Ralls Hospital, a time during which he earned a wide-spread reputation in surgery. He was often called upon to read medical papers before Alabaman, Georgian, and Tennessean medical groups and national organizations, and he wrote a number of articles for medical journals.
Since his retirement about 20 years ago, he has lived a quiet and almost completely secluded life at his home in Tidmore’s Bend.
He is survived by two daughters — Louis Kidd, Gadsden, Route 3, and Alice Camp of Louisville, Kentucky; three grandsons — Louis Kidd, William Kidd and Edwin Kidd; and one great-grandson — William Kidd, Jr.
